Time-lapse video

So I painted this for the festival sometime during the summer, but then totally forgot I guess that I'd taken a video of the process. I don't get enough sleep to remember details! Ha. But we found it and my husband fixed it up for me and here it is! A friend of ours bought it at the festival, so it had a happy ending too, which is always nice :)

*I think the video got turned off because my phone tried to warn me that it was running out of battery. Lame. And really unfortunate timing because the best part of my time-lapse videos are when I do a large wet-into-wet area. Come to think of it, it's one of my favorite parts in real time as well! Only watercolor works magic like that. It's why we're friends.

Commission complete!

Finished and delivered! I think the variety of colors ended up looking nice, and the varying of shapes of the flowers really did make it more interesting to look at. And my customer was super happy so that's what's really important!

So hard!

I apologize for the quality of the pictures but I've been painting this in the family room and didn't feel like dragging it up to my studio to use the better lighting. I don't like the painting enough for that. But it's a commission, which is a blessing. Just wish I had any love for the painting! I had to rearrange so much, combining multiple photos and that's so amazingly challenging in a tight, detailed piece like this! You don't want to know how long I spent just staring at the photos! I then spent a whole evening drawing it.

However, a week later when I took it back out to begin painting, do you think I had any idea what I had done? Which color flowers were to go where? Which flowers from the photos I'd drawn where? Oi! So then I had to again consider which colors looked best together, how to squeeze a good variety in there but keep it balanced. I had to consider composition and variety of shape and size and all that. Oi! I don't really have the brain power for that after a full day of parenting! And how to paint shadows on yellow flowers without making them look dirty. And then, what the heck to do with all the negative space after I've moved everything all around, which requires a tightrope walk of making stuff up and painting what I see. Oi! Oi! Oi! But like I said, a commission is a blessing. Now here's hoping I can manage to finish it!

Lilacs complete

Here it is finished:

Interesting how much that green background changes it. I think because of how much yellow is in it, the background even manages to warm it up a bit. It certainly helps the flowers pop foward.

And go here to see the time-lapse video of me painting it. The video is a little bit longer than usual because all those tiny flowers take a long time to paint! No big swashes of space to throw color into quickly. Darn details. 

Going 'round the bend

I'm so happy with this painting I finished last night that I'd just like to step into it and enjoy a lazy afternoon floating the river or possibly lying on that soft grass reading a book or painting. Sounds so nice. Mary Poppins has all the fun.

And I finally finished this one that I started months ago. It started very poorly, which discouraged me so I put it on a shelf. Kept looking at it, thinking I should finish it but really not wanting to. Finally I ate some chocolate chips and just did it. Glad I did!

Tiny Columbine

So I'm not quite as thrilled at my second attempt on the Ampersand Aquaboard. It is just tricky. When I paint flowers I do a lot of controlled wet-into-wet where I wet one petal, then being the paint in and move it around and let it mix and the Claybord doesn't do that a ton. Then I come back in with layers on top of that when it dries, but on Claybord, that just lifts the color is already placed there. So I have to change my mindset when painting. Great it a bit like a different medium altogether. Relearn how to paint. 

And while I'm not head-over-heels for tonight's results, it was a good learning experience. Or at least that's what I always tell my students when they don't like their end product! No but seriously, these little 6x6 inch Aquaboard are the best time to practice.

Fun with Time-Lapse

So I got a crazy idea to try to take a time-lapse video of me painting. I went for something small and easy that didn't require as much thought. Funny thing, I felt a ton of stress doing it and like I had to keep moving and move quickly! Which is silly since the video thingy speeds it up for me. Although I wasn't the only one confused. My 4 year-old Grace watched the whole thing with a bewildered look, and just kept asking me how I moved so fast! Hahaha.